Ghostbusters Doom Patrol: Black Dawn
by CJ Bacon
Summary: What happens when you cross a scientist, an archeaologist, a sorcerer, and a vampire hunter against the Spear of Destiny?


Ghostbusters Doom Patrol: Black Dawn  
  
Written by CJ London With plot assistance from Robert Smith, Brian Roig, and the rest of the Doom Patrol team.  
  
Chapter 1: Friends, Allies, and Beginnings  
  
CJ breathed in heavily as he stood in front of the Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined he'd end up here, even if he had a similar franchise in his home state of Florida.  
  
It only seemed like yesterday when he received the "urgent telegram" from Western-Union. Opening it, he was somewhat thrilled to learn that it was from the man whom he had admired ever since he was a child, Professor Egon Spengler. That initial thrill soon bloomed into a puzzling mystery. In the letter, Professor Spengler was very clear in asking for CJ's help in a matter that concerned events in a scientific environment. He did not, however, explain what that environment was or the urgency of the matter at hand.  
  
Even so, CJ was here, leaving the Floridian Department of Extranormal and Paranormal Activities in the hands of his friend Darby Nickless.  
  
He didn't bring much with him, except the PKE meter that he had modified not too long ago to coalesce with water-type demons. He had been unsuccessful using it, but brought it with him just in case a situation called for it. He hoped that Professor Spengler would let him work with a proton pack if there was some small disturbance that needed handling.  
  
"Are you Cedric London?" said a voice that interrupted his thoughts. There was a small, red-haired woman standing in the doorway of the Firehouse. She was wearing a pink sweater with a violet skirt, which seemed to clash with her green-framed glasses.  
  
"Um, yeah", CJ said coming back down to earth. "I'm Cedric London. Is this the Ghostbusters HQ?"  
  
"Yes it is", the woman said with a touch of Brooklyn in her accent. "My name is Janine Melnitz Spengler; we've been waiting for you."  
  
Walking inside, CJ couldn't help but wonder who else was involved.  
  
Mrs. Spengler led CJ to a recreation room. There, he noticed that several others were already seated inside.  
  
The first person he noticed was a young woman with brown hair and thin framed glasses sitting next to one of the desks in the room. She seemed to be flipping through an old dusty book that reminded CJ of a purchase he had made to Amazon.com a while ago. He didn't recognize the name of the book, as the title was printed in a language foreign to him (he wished he'd paid more attention in his Greek class during his days as a high schooler).  
  
The next was a young, rotund man that sort of reminded him of a cross between one of the original Ghostbusters, Dr. Raymond Stantz, and comedian Jack Black. He seemed to be lost in thought at the time, playing air drums with a set of headphones to what CJ could faintly hear was Evergrey or one of those hair metal bands of the 1980s.  
  
The final member in their group was the first to notice Dr. London arrive; they both looked around the same age, but the gentleman was noticeably taller than the rest of the people in the group. There were shocks of red strands that peered from underneath his raven black hair, giving the impression that his hair was currently dyed.  
  
"I'll get Egon", Janine said, exiting toward the basement. "He's downstairs with..." She stopped herself in mid-sentence, as if she were about to reveal something that she didn't mean to say. "Well, he's downstairs anyway. Why don't you take a seat, make yourself comfortable, and meet the others."  
  
"OK", CJ said looking around the room at the other people. He took a seat between the dark haired gentleman and the woman reading the Greek book, which was right across from the other young man listening to his headphones. Few moments passed before anyone said anything. Then, the raven- haired gentleman was the first to break the silence:  
  
"So I take it you've also been recruited by Professor Spengler, huh?" he asked, not looking up.  
  
"Yeah", CJ said looking at the tall gentleman. "My name is Cedric. Dr. Cedric London, but you can call me CJ."  
  
"Right. So where're you from?"  
  
"Florida, small town in the boonies called Crawley. Ever heard of it?"  
  
"Might've been there at one time or another", the raven-haired gentleman said, now finally looking up at CJ. Extending his hand, he said, "Name's Andrew Williams; born and raised in Texas. I'm a hunter."  
  
"Really? What do you hunt?" CJ asked shaking Andrew's hand. Andrew grinned and reached inside his trench coat pocket. He pulled out a necklace, but instead of pearls or beads attached, the string was lined with teeth, extremely sharpened molars to be exact.  
  
"Are you some kind of anthropologist?" CJ asked, his dark brown eyes widening and perplexed at the sight of the bizarre necklace.  
  
"Mr. Williams appears to be a hunter of the undead", the young woman with the glasses, said while closing her book. "He is a vampire hunter."  
  
CJ shifted a glance back at Andrew. "Wow", he said. "I saw that movie 'Blade' a while ago. I thought that vampire stuff was just fantasy, but several years ago I used to think the same thing about ghosts", CJ joked.  
  
"It is", Andrew said pocketing his trophy. "I also freelance in the area of werewolf extermination."  
  
"Cure or kill?" the young woman asked.  
  
Grinning, Andrew said, "I'm not picky."  
  
"Say", CJ said, "I haven't met you yet. What's your name?"  
  
"Salina Duran", she said humbly. "I'm a student apprentice in the investigation of corporeal beings."  
  
"Corporeal?" Andrew said raising an eyebrow. Salina sighed, as if haven been asked what that word meant by other people several times over.  
  
"I look into the existence of beasts like the Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster."  
  
"Oh, yeah. I'm familiar with you work. You were the one who took those photos of the legendary Batboy of New Mexico", Andrew sarcastically remarked.  
  
"Hardly", Salina said, seeming annoyed. "I'm a professional. Those half- assed tabloids give the people in my profession a bad name. Digging into her purse, she pulled out a small photograph and handed it to Andrew.  
  
"What's this?" he asked.  
  
"That is a color photograph of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster", she said, pointing to what looked like a brontosaurus swimming in water. "I took that last summer while on a trek in Scotland. Still think I'm full of it?" Impressed, Andrew shook his head as he handed the picture back to Salina.  
  
At that moment, the basement door opened. Leading the way was Professor Egon Spengler, dressed in his trademark blue Ghostbusters uniform with the pink trimming. His hair was graying around the temples, making him seem very distinguished in his old age. Janine walked out behind him, following her walking vigorously with solemn purpose was a gallantly dressed military officer with his arms behind his back. He was obviously a high-ranking officer, as evidenced by his many medals and ribbons. His pudgy face shown a walrus-like mustache, both his mustache and hair silver gray.  
  
"Thank you all for coming today", Egon said. The rotund young man took off his headphones to pay attention. "I suppose you all may have questions regarding why I have called you here. I promise your questions will be answered shortly." He pressed a button on the wall on the opposite end of the basement. The room suddenly dimmed, as a screen began descending from the ceiling towards the group. Egon went over to the middle of the room, where there was a projector, and proceeded to turn it on.  
  
On the projector screen before them, the image of a village appeared. "The town you are seeing is Dalton, Nevada ", Egon droned on. He noted the look of puzzlement on the four people's faces. "It is situated in a plateau outside of Reno ..."  
  
"Making it the perfect town because of its aridity", the military officer interrupted. Egon glanced a faint look showing no appreciation for that brief interruption.  
  
"Forgive me; I forgot to mention one of our other guests here today. This is General Montgomery Connors, head of the United States government's Project: Excelsior."  
  
"Thank you Professor Spengler", General Connors said ruggedly. "As Dr. Spengler was just explaining, Dalton's location was the key to the government's projects during the 1950's and 1960's. Funding was stopped for a time during the whole Vietnam War, but President Ford resumed our projects in 1976, up until the dawn of the Afghan war. Following that, we have been privately funded in our research by various sources."  
  
"So in other words", Andrew said while running his fingers through his hair, ..."a nuke town."  
  
"Somewhat", the General replied.  
  
The screen's image changed, this time showing the town as it was now; the sight of which shocked the four young guests in horror. The neat houses and streets were now barren, almost destroyed.  
  
"What happened", asked the rotund young man with the headphones.  
  
"Very good question, sir ", the General said. "Three years ago, the Excelsior team discovered a new way to combat our enemies at war. We had been—how shall I put it—also funding various 'Ghost-Busters' of our own."  
  
"WHAT?!" exclaimed CJ.  
  
"Simmer down, son. We had this theory, produced by a Dr. Trevor Ravenscroft that if we could siphon the powerful energies—known to you as 'ectoplasm'—into an experimental liquid, we could inject it into our deceased..."  
  
"My God...", CJ groaned.  
  
"A small price in defense of one's country", said the stone-faced General. "They are already dead. They would be the first flank we send out against our enemies in a time of war."  
  
"But something went wrong, didn't it?" Salina asked assumingly. General Connors nodded solemnly, "Yes."  
  
"Not too long ago, I received word from one of our team leaders in Dalton. He recalled that the 'Ecto-Serum' had a powerful flaw, that we had no way of controlling the reanimated dead. They had somehow developed instinctual thought of their own and began wrecking havoc across our military base. The last thing he said was they were quickly terminating the problem and the project. I gave the go-ahead."  
  
"Two weeks later, I received more communication about Project: Excelsior, this one more frantic. Lieutenant Kyle McGraw, the leader on the project, revealed that somehow their research had hit some kind of supernatural pipeline, where the majority of the inhabitants of that region were now 'turning'."  
  
"Into what?" Salina asked.  
  
"The zombies had escaped from the compound and were running amok in Dalton, coupled with others transforming into various creatures of unknown origins. The most information we have collected recounts terror dogs, vampires, and even werewolves."  
  
"Sounds fun. So what has that got to do with us? I hunt bloodsuckers; I don't know about the rest of you, but 'vamps' can be a nasty bunch" Andrew warned. The General opened his mouth, ready to answer, but Egon cut him off. Salina noticed Egon's blue eyes gleam and crack a meager smile when he saw how shocked the General was.  
  
"The General has requested experts in the various fields of the paranormal to go down there, and, in the most basic form, eliminate the threat before it spreads out of Dalton." He nodded to Janine who pulled out a small clipboard. She began to read off of it.  
  
"Mr. Cedric London, a leading expert in the field of ectoplasmic activity and physical research."  
  
"Ms. Salina Duran, renowned crypto-zoologist whose investigations have led to science rethinking the existence of the Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster, and other unknown creatures that were once thought to be myths."  
  
"Mr. Andrew Williams, world-class vampire and werewolf hunter/investigator and freelance bounty hunter of the paranormal. Also a skilled warrior in several forms of combat including judo, capoera martial arts, and Greco- Roman wrestling."  
  
"And finally, Dr. Brian Roig." CJ, Salina, and Andrew all turned their heads and looked back at the rotund, long-haired young man who was grinning sheepishly as his name and list of accomplishments were called out. "Top in the field of Occult studies, magic, and various religions. He is also an associate of Dr. Trevor Ravenscroft."  
  
"I'm not going to say that the mission will be easy", General Connors said solemnly. "We've already lost two teams that we sent out there; one of them was our own team of Ghostbusters..."  
  
"But", Egon said interrupting, "I'll supply you with the necessary equipment you will need on your trip...including proton packs and a P.K.E meter. Also, you will be supplied with modified ghost traps because the trip to Dalton from New York City will have you traveling across state lines, the traps have been adjusted for extended long term containment of all ectoplasmic entities."  
  
"We'll also give you transportation as far as Reno ", the General continued. "After that, there will be a team that will escort you as far as the border. From there, you'll have to go the rest of the distance on your own." Looking at the faces of the young people in the room, the General smiled assuringly and added:  
  
"So what do you say? Do you accept your mission?"  
  
CJ thought for a second. He'd never been on anything this important in his whole life, and, frankly, when would he get another chance like this again. Standing up, he said a hearty "You can count me in!" his voice annunciated with his Floridian accent. Salina was the next to join in.  
  
Brian followed, repeating CJ's acceptance speech with more enthusiasm. Andrew held out for a few moments, with everyone looking at him.  
  
"All right, all right", he said. But, what's in it for us? As much as I enjoy saving the world on a regular basis, I've still gotta pay the bills."  
  
The General knew the question of monetary compensation would be asked. He looked straight at Andrew and replied, "For your services in assisting the United States Government and eradicating the threat of an undead terror upon the world, you will be graciously compensated with a fee of $100, 000.00 for each of you.  
  
All eyes of the four young individuals widened.  
  
Andrew took but a minute to think it over, "You've got yourself a deal!"  
  
"Splendid", Egon said. "You will all leave on the first flight to Dalton tomorrow morning. I've already started the packing of your necessary tools."  
  
"Just one question", Brian said.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"How bad is it exactly over there?"  
  
Egon pressed one last button on the projector, flipping to a scene where a blurred picture of a werewolf about to prey upon whatever poor guy holding the camera. In the background, there were corpses strewn about all over the place.  
  
"Any other questions?" Egon asked. There was silence all over the room, except for General Connors, who was busy on his cellular phone in a remote corner of the room making phone calls.  
  
. . .  
  
The plane ride to Dalton was comfortable, making the trip pleasant enough. The whole journey, CJ had gotten to know his fellow teammates a little bit more. He learned that he, Andrew, and Brian all shared a common passion for comic books when they were children and even now still have a fondness for them though they had differing tastes in music. Salina was an interesting woman with a cool demeanor about her; yet she didn't talk much during the duration of the flight. She was busy studying her books, and transcripts, and a map of Dalton, Nevada.  
  
They were hovering over Las Vegas. Brian pointed outside the window, entranced by the bright lights of the city and at that moment Andrew asked,  
  
"So when we get there, how do you think we'll go about this?"  
  
CJ turned around and shrugged. "I don't know. I we'll find out when we get there. We should be briefed more on the mission once we land."  
  
"Right", Andrew said. "But I was just thinking. They didn't really give us enough information as to what exactly is turning these people into monsters. How would we know how to handle the situation if we don't know the source?"  
  
"Well, General Connors did say that it was some kind of supernatural pipeline", Brian said. "So I'd guess that we'd need to cut the current off at its source."  
  
"The pipeline you mean?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Well", Salina said, staring out of her window, "we may have the chance to do that. We're landing in Reno International airport now."  
  
There were no other airplanes in the airport; go figure, perhaps, as CJ very much doubted that the situation happening so close to Reno would scare off any tourists. As the team walked down the catwalk, soldiers were waiting for their arrival. The soldier's faces looked tired and their eyes were haggard. Walking off of the plane, they were dressed in dark generic flight suits.  
  
"Welcome. Are you the Ghostbusters team that the General called about?" one of them asked. He held a black pistol in one of his hands.  
  
"Yeah", Andrew replied. "Are you the soldiers that are going to escort us to Dalton?"  
  
"Very funny smart-ass", the soldier said and turned around. He motioned to one of his comrades and they piled out of the standard issue truck and began unloading the Ghostbusters equipment. After it was all inside the truck, the new team followed the soldier to one of these trucks and began their mission.  
  
"So, do you guys think you can take care of all the shit that's happening in Dalton?"  
  
"Probably", CJ said. "That's why we were hired by Professor Spengler." He looked around at the weaponry scattered throughout the truck behind the officers and then looked backed at them. "Are those really necessary?"  
  
The soldier looked down at his rifle and looked back at CJ. "Well, how else do you think we're supposed to combat those...those things out there? We've been up for three days straight patrolling the border so that whatever's happened inside Dalton stays in Dalton."  
  
"Makes sense", Salina said aggress making her presence felt behind CJ as she walks out of the plane.  
  
"Sure does", Andrew whispers to Brian. "Makes sense that maybe we are up against more than we thought."  
  
Brian half smiles and replied in return, "You tell me, you're the vampire hunter."  
  
Grinning, the soldier handed Andrew a grenade. "Mostly it's been werewolves, so if you come across any of those, toss that and you'll be okay."  
  
The final trip was bumpy as the trucks traveled the back roads of the Nevada region. Until finally, they stopped at a nearby checkpoint base protected with a picket fence lined with barbed wire.  
  
"Well, the buck stops here, people", the soldier hollered over the truck's engine, somewhat happy. The Ghostbusters climbed out of the truck and each grabbed a standard proton pack, PKE meter, and ghost-trap. The soldier went over to the fence, and, pulling out his key, unlocked it.  
  
After taking off the lock, the soldier looked down at the ground took a spit, and straightened his sunglasses with his index finger. "Welcome to Hell", was all he said pointing towards the town.  
  
Chapter 2: Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be  
  
Dalton, Nevada (from a distance), looked like any other town in America. It reminded CJ of his hometown in Florida. That is perhaps what made it so unnerving for him: there were no people mulling about in the road, no cars zooming back and forth, despite there being streets. The town was quiet and ghostly.  
  
And here stood four strangers; brought together to save what was left of this desolate town. Behind them, the Army trucks rushed off, probably to do more patrolling of the area and get as far away from the parameter as possible.  
  
The four of them stood there for what seemed like forever, until it was Salina who said:  
  
"Well guys, I guess we should get to work." CJ, Andrew, and Brian nodded in agreement and hitched up their packs. They slowly walked towards the town; Salina took out a P.K.E meter. As soon as it was activated, it was already going off the charts.  
  
"There seems to be an exceedingly high amount of disturbance in the area", she said without looking up as they entered the town. The buildings towered over the four Ghostbusters like monsters about to pounce them.  
  
In the distance, CJ heard someone moaning. Going towards the source of the sound, he came to a dark alley where there was a woman trapped underneath several boxes that had fallen on her.  
  
He began to throw the boxes off of her, until she was loose enough for him to pull her out. She was taller than he was, with dark black hair and pale skin, probably a result of the madness that had gone on he thought. She was barefoot and wearing a white smock.  
  
"Thank you, sir, for your kindness", she wheezed, grabbing CJ's shoulder.  
  
"It was no problem ma'am", CJ said. "Just doing my job."  
  
"Hey CJ, what'd you find?" Salina asked coming into the alley.  
  
"A woman—she was caught underneath some boxes, but I..." CJ didn't finish the sentence. He noticed Salina pause and then give a strange look of horror. She quickly raised her neutrona wand. "Hey, why are you pointing that?"  
  
She didn't answer, but instead fired a full stream of proton energy at CJ's direction. It missed his head by a few inches, instead hitting the woman behind him.  
  
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Salina shouted. CJ jumped towards the left wall of the alley. To his horror, he saw the woman he had saved now had purple eyes and long fangs protruding and salivating from her mouth.  
  
"You will pay for this ", she bellowed in monstrous feminine guttural voice as she flew, gliding fiercely towards Salina. Coming to his senses, CJ whipped out his neutrona wand and fired a proton stream at the demon. Screaming once again, the demon flew up in the air, circled, and made a dive-bomb attack in the path of both Ghostbusters. She didn't get far, as Brian and Andrew joined in the fight, and with Salina 's pack at full blast, had now snared the demon. Whipping out his ghost-trap, CJ threw it down and slid it underneath her. He pressed the pedal, and remembered something very important.  
  
"Don't look into the trap!" he shouted to all as the ghost trap opened up. Turning his eyes away, CJ heard the demon yell one last time (" AHHHHHRGGGH! " it shouted), then heard nothing at all, except for the closing hatch the ghost trap as it crackles blue strands of electricity. Opening his eyes, all he saw now was a smoking trap that Brian fanned.  
  
Brian held his nose, "I hate the smell of ectoplasm in the morning", he deadpanned. Getting back on his feet his on his side of the alley and rubbing the back of his neck, CJ said, "Now that wasn't so hard?"  
  
"You're kidding me, right?", Andrew said incredulously while strapping his wand back to his proton pack. He looked towards Brian. "What was that thing anyway?"  
  
"A succubus", he said pushing some of his hair out of his face. "A female demon that has vampire-like characteristics. They usually don't come out until after nightfall."  
  
"Maybe that's because this whole frick'n town is darkness incarnate", Salina said. She looked around for a second, making sure that there wasn't any other demon mulling about. "I think it would be a good idea if we split up." CJ and Brian looked at her with furrowed eyes with serious doubts toward that notion.  
  
"Are you sure about that?" Andrew asked. "I mean, all that's out here...its not likely that we'll be able to beat them on their own...let alone survive."  
  
"Well, we can probably do better if we looked separately for whatever's changing these people and then meet back here."  
  
CJ sighed and agreed, "All right. Let's just keep a sharp eye."  
  
"Yeah", Brian said. "Turn on your radios, so that if one of us gets in trouble, we could call the other."  
  
With that, the Ghostbusters, having turned their small-waist, two-way radios on, went in their opposite directions. CJ was the last to leave the alley, thinking about that Three Dog Night song. Taking a quick minute to pray, he slung the ghost trap over his shoulder and headed towards the downtown area of Dalton.  
  
. . .  
  
"Geez, I wonder what's in there?" Brian said. His PKE readings were going through the roof as he came upon what appeared to be an auto garage in the middle of town. The paint was chipping off the sidings of the building and some of the windows were cracked or broken off completely. The only thought that Brian had was that this place looked like a hotbed for zombies or vampires, or a hideout for Saddam Hussein. Charging his positron collider, he walked towards the door and tapped slowly. It creaked open, revealing a dark office.  
  
Inside, there was an overturned desk, mounds of paper thrown about all over the floor, and a small telephone without its charger.  
  
"Helloooooo?" he said, peering inside. He walked further in, stopped and looked around. He heard some paper rustle on the floor beneath him. Suddenly, a hand grabs him by the collar with impressive quickness and brute strength. It clinches its fingers in the back of Brian's neck until the rotund Ghostbuster winced. Brian was now in a headlock, looking into the muzzle of pistol.  
  
It was a bald-headed, light-skin black man larger than he was, wearing mechanic's overalls greased over, though one of the sleeves was torn off. The look on the man's face was a combination of intense fear and anger with his teeth clenched under his rugged mustache and goatee.  
  
"WHO...the living hell...are you?!" the man asked, tightening his grip around Brian's neck. "Are you a zombie?"  
  
"No", Brian said plainly.  
  
The man spoke more sternly, "You'll have to speak up a little louder because I'm partially deaf. And I advise you to not make any sudden moves as there's a magnum .45 handgun kissing the side of your head.  
  
"You look like a vampire? You have the hair for one of those bloodsuckers!"  
  
"Of course not. And I'm not a werewolf, incubus, or any other bogeyman you can think of!" The man bent back the trigger lock of the pistol.  
  
"Then who are you?"  
  
"If you would just kindly ease your grip some", Brian said calmly, though his anger beginning to rise, "I can tell you." The man furrowed his eyebrows, squinted, but hesitantly complied and released his grip from Brian  
  
"All right. Talk ."  
  
"My name is Brian Roig; I'm here because the Unites States government asked me and my associates to come here. I'm a Ghostbuster." He pointed to his shoulder patch, showing the familiar NO-GHOST logo used by the company.  
  
"Ghostbusters?" The man grinned and chuckled at his own arrogance. "I probably should have noticed the proton pack you are wearing." Brian soothed his neck with the cup of his hand and shook his head in disbelief. He gained his composure but couldn't help himself as he smiled along with muscular man with the gun still in his hand.  
  
"Okay, now that we have established my identity, how about yours?" The man tucked his pistol in a pocket of his overalls, turning on the safety switch of the gun so that it wouldn't misfire. Brian waited for a few moments for it to go off, but nothing happened.  
  
"Don't worry", the man said. "I knew what I was doing. It's not my first time using a firearm"  
  
"No shit! Not much good one gun would do against the living- walking dead, a vampire or a werewolf", Brian said.  
  
"Yeah, you're right", replied the mechanic. "Well, playa', my name is Robert Lawrence Statler. I used to be one of Dalton 's top engineers, making some of the cars and weapons that the army would use for their wars. Well, at least I was until hell on Earth showed up in our little neck of the woods." Statler looked out of a nearby window staring out at what used to be his town. "Now, I'm just one of the lucky bastards who haven't been turned yet and are till alive."  
  
"Do you know what happened here?"  
  
Robert nodded. "Pretty much. It all happened in one day, really. A couple of locals from Reno decided to take some pictures of the town, and came across two soldiers fully dressed. When they came up on these soldiers, the poor sons of guns bit off more than they could chew when they found out they were talking to a couple of stiffs. It was a funny sight to see", Statler then changes his expression to remorse," until they ended up dead themselves. The government raised hell when their undead army couldn't control them any longer."  
  
"How they were controlling them in the first place?" Robert shrugged.  
  
"...I don't know. They way I see it, they must've used something like this." Reaching towards his right ear, he pulled out his small hearing aid.  
  
"See, if they were to somehow install one of these inside the neural impulses in their brains, they would be able to tell them what to do."  
  
"Sounds weird how they suddenly 'lost control of them'", Brian said as Robert put his device back inside his ear.  
  
"Huh?" Asked Robert, who missed what Brian said when his hearing aid was out of his ear.  
  
Brian repeated, "Oh, I said sounds weird how they suddenly 'lost control of them." Hey, you hear pretty well for a deaf guy.  
  
"Thanks. I'm really hard of hearing, but have a profound loss of hearing in both ears. I'm fully deaf in my left ear, but still have a substantial amount of hearing ability I my right ear...the one with my hearing aid. I rely on reading people's lips and communicate through speech and sign language." Rob said.  
  
"Cool", Brian replied.  
  
Rob walked away from the window and put out a gesture to shake Brian's hand. "Bye the way, just call me Rob; all my friend's do. Oh, and sorry about the headlock. No offense, man."  
  
Brian smirked and shook Rob's hand, "None taken."  
  
Behind him, Brian heard the familiar slow shuffling of feet against the ground. He turned around and his fears were readily confirmed.  
  
There were ten zombies outside making their way towards him and Rob, moaning deathlessly and moving aimlessly towards the pair. Brian's hand quickly dropped to his waist as he pulled his communicator to his mouth.  
  
"Andrew, CJ, Salina, somebody! I got a situation. Dead men walking...LITERALLY!" he shouted. All he got was static on all three ends.  
  
"Well, Mr. Ghostbuster, what's the plan?" Rob said as he began backing towards his desk. Brian stood there, his neutrona wand in his hands.  
  
"Actually", Brian said somewhat calmly with a bit of a grin in his voice. "I do. You wanna see what a proton pack can do?" Rob looks down at the gun, raises his eyebrows, looks at Brian, and then the zombies.  
  
Aiming the wand at the group of the undead coming at him, Brian fired a stream of proton at full blast, piercing a hole through the wall and ripping apart the living dead like a hot poker knife through toilet paper. His hair flowed in the wind created by the forced inertia of the activated neautrona stream and his face illuminated by the light of its beam.  
  
...And then as bad luck would have it, the pack shut down, turning off the stream of proton energy in its tracks.  
  
"Dude", Rob said. "It looks like your proton thing doesn't work."  
  
"Huh?" Brian said, now flicking the switch of his pack. Rob was right: the proton beams had done little to slow down crowd of zombies increasing coming at them. Instead, it had appeared as though they'd walked through the beams.  
  
"Okay, note to self: 'Proton streams have absolutely no effect on the reanimated dead as of the moment.' Side note: ' The Ring ? No longer scary."  
  
"So what's your next plan?" Rob asked. "They've got the only exit blocked off completely and this window isn't big enough to get either of us out."  
  
But Brian didn't hear him. Closing his eyes and bowing his head, he raised his hands in a manner that reminded Rob of the symbol most Metal-Heads do at Guns n' Roses concerts.  
  
Brian muttered to himself, closing out the surrounding noises. He opens his eyes and they begin to glow with bright inner light. Seemingly, out of nowhere, a strong wind begins to form. "Saggath en deali agidah...morturi al dagobah! " Rob watched as a blue flame suddenly shot out of Brian's hands, aimed directly at the zombies, the force of which threw Brian back causing him to hit the overturned desk.  
  
"Holy shit!", Rob said as he helped Brian up.  
  
"Thanks. I forgot to mention that I'm also an occultist."  
  
"I could've figured that part out."  
  
The two of them looked into the smoke, trying to make sure that the menace had been eliminated. Both Brian's and Rob's eyes widened as the first few zombies hunkered out of the debris left by Brian's attack.  
  
"Dammit!" Brian cursed. Getting to his feet, he got into his familiar state of mind when Rob said:  
  
"This time, see if you can hold them off for a bit." Brian looked at Rob, a bit surprised. Then he grinned.  
  
"Why, you got something in mind?" he asked. Now it was Rob's turn to grin.  
  
"Yeah, if you can call it that." Brian nodded in agreement as Rob removed his hearing aid once again. Whatever idea would work as the two best defenses that he had had failed him. And he wasn't about to end up being digested by someone who was no longer alive.  
  
Holding up his hands and putting them into his signature gesture, he began to put himself into the right state of mind for the spell to work.  
  
"Anon de lux azareth do... Mich en dreal alt! " This time, a misty cloud emitted from the Ghostbuster's hands. The zombies walked right into it, causing them to stop. Some pounded at it, causing severe mental strain for Brian.  
  
"Don't...know how long I can hold this up Rob!" he shouted. He could feel the sweat pouring down his nose. "Whatever you're about to do, do it quick!"  
  
Rob didn't hear him. He took out a small pocket screwdriver and, flipping open his hearing aid, found the various gears and wires. He took them out slowly and faced Brian's proton pack. Brian tried not to let himself be distracted by the sudden jostling behind him. If he were to let this energy field down, it would be a fatal mistake.  
  
Patting Brian on the back, Rob said triumphantly:  
  
"Alright, you can let go now." Brian looked at him strangely for a moment (but only a moment: he wasn't sure he wanted to let the shield down yet), sighed, and dropped his guard. The zombies walked onwards.  
  
"Okay, now what do I do?" Brian muttered.  
  
"Just use your proton pack", Rob replied smiling. Brian looked down at his neutrona wand. Shaking his head, he pointed it at the zombies and pressed the trigger.  
  
For a moment, it seemed as though everything around him and Rob began to fall apart; Brian, even though he was holding the wand, felt like he was in an earthquake. He noticed that the familiar stream did not come out of the wand, which he thought was strange, until he noticed the zombies. They were being blown apart, some of their various limbs splattering all over Rob's office.  
  
Brian quickly shut his wand off and looked around him for a few seconds, surveying the carnage his modified proton gun had done with awe and shock. He looked back at Rob.  
  
"What did I just do?" he asked.  
  
Grinning, Rob said:  
  
"I only replaced some of the circuitry in my hearing aid with that in your proton gun, thus your gun giving off amplified sound waves a few decibels louder than the speed of sound."  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"Instant sonic boom."  
  
Brian nodded in agreement. It had done the job perfectly, and had kept him alive. Then, a thought passed through his mind. If his equipment had conked out on him with the zombies, he wondered if the others' packs, if they were facing zombies, werewolves, or even vampires, had done the same on them.  
  
"I gotta get to the other Ghostbusters", Brian said sheathing his proton gun. He turned towards Rob. "Wanna come along?"  
  
"Hell yeah", Rob said with a smirk on his face. But before he followed Brian out, he went over towards his desk. He ruffled around inside of it for a little bit before he pulled out another aid, replacing the old one in his ear.  
  
"I hope your friends are all right", he said joining Brian. "It's hell out there."  
  
"Yeah, but leave it to the Ghostbusters to have any situation under control...even when it involves a 100ft marshmallow man" Rob grinned at the joke. Brian looked down at his boots at one of the zombies' heads. He kicked it over and a strange symbol caught his attention. He bent down to get a closer look.  
  
"Hey Rob, you said that the government here was using remote controls to control them, right?"  
  
"Yeah", Rob said coming towards him. "Why? What'd you find?" Brian held up the decapitated zombie's head and pushed back some of the hair that remained on the scalp to reveal the forehead.  
  
"This symbol here, it's the Symbol of the Wu."  
  
"Wu who?"  
  
"The Wu. It's Latin for 'Immortal Dead'." Brian looked towards a severed arm and found a similar symbol there. He looked over at Rob.  
  
"Something tells me the government knew more about their project than they told us about."  
  
. . .  
  
CJ wished he was back at home, now, reading the newest issue of 'Green Lantern', or even watching some Saturday cartoons. But instead, he was halfway across the United States living out his dream of being a hero---and about five seconds away from being killed by an eight and a half foot werewolf.  
  
After he had split off from the other Ghostbusters, CJ walked around for a little bit, before stopping at the front of a store. He was still somewhat unnerved by the whole succubus incident earlier, and was a bit cautious when he followed the PKE readings.  
  
He stopped at the glass and peered inside. In the middle of the floor there was a man with his face buried into the ground, his hands furthering covering him. CJ tapped on the glass, hoping that he could be of some assistance. Then the man looked at him, and CJ's heart very nearly skipped several beats.  
  
The man's eyes had taken on the color of blood red as he stared at CJ; his was disheveled and he was beginning to foam at the mouth. "GET OUT!" he shouted at CJ. Backing away, CJ watched the man's transformation as his bone structure reconfigured itself and more hair began to sprout from his pink skin. The man was also growing larger in size, evidenced by his growing out of the clothes he was wearing.  
  
Within a few seconds, CJ saw the store's glass shatter as he felt the ground shake underneath him. He was now staring into the angry—and perhaps hungry—eyes of a fully grown werewolf.  
  
The werewolf didn't waste any time in attacking CJ: with its left paw, it took a mighty swipe at him. CJ backed away in the nick of time, the claws taking away his beloved Green Lantern patch and tearing a piece of his uniform off of him. His communicator had also flown off of his waist and was promptly crushed by the massive feet of the wolf.  
  
CJ didn't waste any time either; unsheathing his proton gun, he waited until he could he see the red pigments of the wolf's eyes. Pressing the trigger, CJ said, "Eat protons fangface!" The streams knocked the werewolf about ten feet away from CJ, landing in a group of garbage cans. CJ let the satisfaction of his victory sweep over him for a moment, as he went over to the spot where his Green Lantern patch was and picked it up. He felt good that he had actually done something heroic like his comics favorites Superman or Captain Marvel or even Flash would have done in their exploits. But the memory of his victory lasted only that moment as he heard familiar grumblings and growling emanating from the trashcans. The next second, the werewolf stood up on its hind legs, its teeth bared and glistening in the sunlight.  
  
CJ's eyes widened. He had expected the positive effects of the streams to have at least some kind of effect on the werewolf, but then he remembered: Werewolves are never technically dead. All his proton pack had done was burn some of its fur and singe its snout.  
  
The werewolf hopped over the trashcans and, with amazing speed, ran towards CJ and landed a punch to his midsection, causing CJ to fly backwards. He was stunned for a few seconds and began to cough up blood when he realized the werewolf's shadow was over him. He felt the foul-smell of its breath on him as he stared into its eyes. He kind of felt sorry for it, as he knew that it wasn't turned into a monster by choice.  
  
He didn't allow that thought to linger for too long, as the werewolf flashed its teeth one more time and attempted to sink them into CJ. Rolling away, CJ scrambled to his feet as he tried to get another shot at it. It had a smaller effect than the last stream. Looking above the monster's head, CJ noticed a large sign hanging from the store. Realizing that this might be his only option left, CJ fired a stream over the monster's head at the sign, causing it to fall on the wolf. This bought CJ only a few seconds, as the wolf tore through the sign and was once again advancing towards CJ.  
  
The very next second he would remember as the grossest moment of his life. Standing there, frozen in fear, the wolf walked effortlessly towards him, its teeth bared. Then, all of a sudden, CJ felt himself knocked backwards by an incredible force as the wolf seemingly exploded, most of its insides landing on CJ.  
  
"You all right man?" Brian asked, sheathing his proton gun as he walked over towards CJ covered in werewolf entrails. His hair matted down from the bloody residue, CJ took off his glasses and wiped them with a clean part of his uniform and put them back on.  
  
"I think I will be", he said taking out a small vial from his pocket. He held it under the slime dripping from his body. CJ thought for a minute, "Slime on a werewolf? Interesting." "Who's your buddy there?"  
  
"Rob Statler", Rob said extending his hand, helping CJ up and stifling a laugh. "You must be one of the other Ghostbusters that Brian here was telling me about."  
  
"Yeah", CJ said. "Name's Cedric London, but you can call me CJ."  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
"So", CJ said turning towards Brian. "What was that thing you killed Fangzilla with?"  
  
"It'd take too long to explain", Brian replied smirking towards Rob. "But we did find some new developments in why Dalton 's gone all to hell." And Brian proceeded to reveal his theory based on the Wu symbol he had found on the zombies and the failure of the packs against these creatures.  
  
"Wu who?", CJ asked. Brian shook his head, "Dude, let's not start that again."  
  
"Huh?", CJ asked. "Anyway, I was wondering why my pack wasn't doing the job."  
  
"Yeah, that's why we have to find out quick what all happened here before we end up as a side attraction for this Double Creature Feature. Any idea where Andrew or Salina went?"  
  
"I think I saw Andrew heading towards the direction of the clock tower if that map was right", CJ said. "I have no clue where Salina went to." At that moment, Brian's radio crackled at his hip.  
  
"Hey, is anyone out there? " It was Salina 's voice.  
  
"Yeah, this is Brian here with CJ."  
  
"Good. I'm glad you guys are alright. You wouldn't believe all that's out here! "  
  
Brian grinned. "Try us; we've both had a hell of an afternoon."  
  
"Hold on a sec ." In the background, Brian and the others heard the snarling of a beast, then the whizzing of proton streams followed finally by unearthly screams. "Sorry about that. Had to take care of a small vampire problem ."  
  
"Your pack is working properly?" Brian asked.  
  
"Yeah, why shouldn't it? "  
  
"Various reasons. Where are you?"  
  
"The middle of 8 th and Main , outside of a K-Mart ..."  
  
"That's not too far from here", Rob said.  
  
"Okay" Brian said. "We'll be right there. Have you seen Andrew by any chance?"  
  
"He shut off his communicator ", Salina said. "As far as I know, he was out at the town's clock tower, muttering something about having a large PKE reading."  
  
"Alright, stay where you are. We'll be there, just make sure you keep your communicator online."  
  
"Will do ."  
  
. . .  
  
Over by the clock tower at the center of Dalton , Andrew sliced off the arm of one of his enemies using his trusty sword. The vampire screamed in pain as Andrew finished the duty by cutting its head off in one mighty swipe.  
  
This is too easy, he thought to himself. You'd have thought that my reputation would have preceded me. Instead, I get to teach them who I am. Well, blokes, class is in session!  
  
Grinning, he shoved the hilt of his sword at the jaw of another creature of the undead before hitting it with his bare fist. All around him were the remains of the vampires that had, moments earlier, attempted to jump him. His blood splattered face was reminiscent of a certain Marvel super hero, Wolverine, in one of his berserker rages as his dark hair fell over his eyes.  
  
Watching as the last of the bloodsuckers fell, Andrew said aloud:  
  
IS THAT IT? NO BODY WANTS TO PLAY WITH ME?!" Sheathing his sword beneath his cloak, he picked up his proton pack from the ground. He was almost sorry that he hadn't gotten the chance to use it, but instinct had taught him not to waste any time in situations of life and death. It had been dead weight as he pulled his trusty blade out.  
  
"The battle is far from over young one ", a voice hissed behind Andrew. Turning around slowly, Andrew saw another vampire standing no more than a few feet away from him. It was larger than the others and was also bald. It took out a lighter and lit the cigarette that was hanging from his mouth.  
  
"What makes you so different from your buddies?" Andrew asked, his hand slowly going towards his sword again.  
  
"Simple...I know your reputation, Mr. Williams, as the slayer of my brethren; I know that you pride yourself upon your redoubtable skills—that is why you no longer have your communicator. But most important of all, Mr. Williams is that you don't know something about me. "  
  
"Which is?" Andrew didn't have time to finish his sentence as the vampire came at him with incredible speed, landing a haymaker that Andrew didn't see coming.  
  
"My friends, that you so gleefully slew—they were merely 'turned' from the effects of the Master; I am a full-blood vampire and will gladly kill you, even if the Master wasn't offering me the ability to walk in the daylight. "  
  
"Your 'Master' is full of sh**", Andrew said, stepping to one side as the bald vampire attacked again, hoping to crush Andrew's skull. Taking out a bow, Andrew slammed it across the vampire's back, bringing it to the ground. "You would have done to wait until I found you, instead of getting killed right here."  
  
"Tough talk for a mortal facing his own demise ", the vampire said gripping Andrew's bow and crumbling it into pieces. Grabbing Andrew by his collar, the vampire hurled him through the door. Andrew landed hard on the floor, but quickly came to his senses. Over in the hole he had made, he smelled the foulness of the vampire's cigarette.  
  
"Funny, I would have preferred killing you at your prime, not at your half- way point ", it said walking over towards him. Andrew could hear how close his enemy was with each resounding footstep. His mind raced quickly: the vampire would obviously be watching his every move, ensuring that Andrew would go for his blade. That would make Andrew's demise much quicker.  
  
"Any last words before I send you to Hell?"  
  
"Yeah", Andrew said rising to his feet, but staying in a crouched position. "Two things actually: One, I'm already in Hell. And two..." With quickness that rivaled the vampire's earlier attack, Andrew whipped out his proton gun and fired at the vampire's head.  
  
"Rise and shine."  
  
The vampire fell out of the tower onto the ground, his eyes having been burned away by the UV ray of Andrew's streams. He was now blind.  
  
Andrew went over to him and bent down. He now had the creature where he wanted it, but knew he couldn't kill it just yet.  
  
"So here's the deal", Andrew said. "I'm going to let you live if you just answer my questions. Fair enough?"  
  
"I'd rather have a stake driven through my heart than let such information pass my lips !" Andrew sighed.  
  
"Alright, you can have it your way", he said calmly and drew from his belt a four inch long wooden stake. Grabbing the vampire's jacket collar, Andrew drove the much-asked for stake at the vampire's lateral side.  
  
"You must have gone through some more excruciating pain", Andrew said, noticing the vampire wasn't screaming or yelling. He had winced once, but that was because Andrew, being the professional he was, had positioned the stake two inches away from the creature's heart. "Now, you're going to tell me all that I want to know."  
  
The vampire grunted and breathed in heavily. "Alright, you win. "  
  
Andrew smiled. "Good. Now, who caused all of this?"  
  
"The one you seek is a mortal, much like yourself. He promised those that would help him gifts and prizes beyond their wildest dream. The zombies you fight were only the beginning, reanimated using the mystic powers of the Clan of Wu. "  
  
"What's the deal with everyone in this town turning into scumbags like you?" Here, the vampire himself repaid Andrew's question with a smile.  
  
"Part of the gift that the Master promised some of us. He wanted to make the world a better place than it was .That is why we were brought in, to make sure that we spread the Master's gifts. "  
  
"By turning everyone into monsters?"  
  
"Certainly. With every soul that is turned, the Master augments his power for changing the world into a utopian paradise. He enlisted all of us to help him. His power originally couldn't spread its influence completely. "  
  
Andrew raised an eyebrow. He knew that this vampire was obviously insane.  
  
"I can sense in your heart that the urge to kill me has left you completely ", the vampire said, a sense of mockery in his voice. Pushing Andrew to one side, the vampire slid the stake the final two inches in, which went right through its heart. It shuddered oncebefore collapsing on the ground. The next second, its body began to turn into dust.  
  
"Hey Andrew, you all right?" Andrew looked to his side and saw Brian, CJ, Salina , and a new person he didn't yet know running towards him.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine", Andrew said. "I managed to get some info on what's been turning the citizenry into monsters."  
  
"No kidding", CJ said looking at the remains of the vampires around him. "Looks like you had a field day with these guys."  
  
"Nah, I really got the gist of it from this asshole over here." Andrew pointed towards the remains of the vampire he had just interrogated. "Turns out that it reaches higher than we ever imagined."  
  
"Tell us about it", Brian said.  
  
"Although I would like to ask you a question", Andrew said looking at Brian. "What is this so called 'Clan of Wu'?"  
  
Salina asked, "Wu who?"  
  
Brian, "Aw come on, you guys!" CJ and Rob stifle their laughter. Rob smiles to himself and mutters, "Damn, man."  
  
"It was a cult that existed back in the Dark Ages", Brian replied. "They were mostly black magicians who used their powers to combat their enemies using the 'Immortal Dead' or 'Wu' as they called them."  
  
"Kind of like how the United States Army was trying to combat theirs", CJ said dryly.  
  
"Right, but here's the weird part of it: the Clan of the Wu could only resurrect the dead by means of the Holy Heilige Lance."  
  
"The what Lance?" Salina asked.  
  
"The Holy Heilige Lance, more commonly referred to as the Spear of Longinus and the Spear of Destiny."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"It's the spear that was used by a Roman lance man named Longinus to pierce the side of Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion", Rob said, speaking for the first time. Noticing Andrew's look of surprise, Rob said:  
  
"Sorry, name's Robert Statler. I used to work in this town...or what's left of it."  
  
"Well, mines Andrew but we haven't time for intros; we'll trade cookie recipes later. What all do you know about the 'Spear of Destiny'?"  
  
"Only that, when Longinus pierced Jesus' side, he was splashed by the mixture of both blood and water in the eyes, restoring the lance man's failing eyesight. They say he was one of the early converters to Christianity."  
  
"Whatever happened to the Spear?" Salina asked.  
  
"The Spear became imbued with mystical powers", Brian said. "Equal to the level that Christ had. Over the centuries, many would come to possess it: Constantine, Napoleon, Charlemagne, Frederick II, and even Julius Caesar all had the Holy Lance when they rose to power. It is said that whoever held the Holy Lance in their hands could hold the destiny of the world for good...or evil."  
  
"I remember hearing a story that Hitler was entranced by it when he was a young man" Brian continued. "They say that when he invaded Poland in 1939, he took the Spear with him."  
  
"So you're saying that the evilest man the world has ever known had this spear in his possession?" Andrew said. Brian nodded.  
  
"You know how all of those nations fell at the Nazi war machine? How else would Germany have beaten Britain as badly as they did, or even nearly defeating us early in the war? Besides, another legend states that the leader's downfall would occur when he let the spear slip from him. And didn't Hitler take a cyanide pill in a bunker in 1945?"  
  
"Good point, but why would the army be interested in taking over the world?' CJ asked.  
  
Brian shrugged. "I don't think that it was their intention in the beginning. Now it's gone way beyond that. More importantly, how we even got the Spear in the first place is my question. After the war, it was supposed to go back into the hands of the Hapsburgs in Poland.  
  
"I might be able to answer that", Rob said. "I remember helping some soldiers move crates into the Army facility, when I was doing some maintenance of the systems there. One of these was oblong shaped and didn't have a marker on it. They just told me not to damage it in any way."  
  
"So the government's been lying to us this whole time", Salina said. "To think they would have learned their lesson with Nixon."  
  
"Not necessarily a lie", Brian said. "I just think that what General Connors told us what he was basing his information on. He may not have known about the full extent of the Spear of Destiny's influence upon Dalton. The ectoplasm he was telling us about might have fed the fires of the Spear, giving it its main power.  
  
"So what's our next move you think?" Andrew asked. It was a question directed at everyone. After a few moments, CJ was the one who spoke up.  
  
"We go to that facility, we find out whatever's in there causing this, and we stop it", he said simply and crisply. "Rob, we might need you, seeing as you have more knowledge of the area than we do." From his hip belt he handed Rob a proton pistol. "You think you can use that?"  
  
Rob looked at the small pistol, examining every detail of it. "Yeah, it shouldn't be any different than what I have right here.", Rob pulls out his magnum .45, shows it to the team, and places it back in his pocket.  
  
Rob looks directly at CJ and says, "I ain't 'fraid of no man, and I ain't 'fraid of no ghost."  
  
Salina replies and smiles, "OK, Mr. No-Ghost."  
  
"Good. How far do you think we are from the main facility?", CJ asks.  
  
"Not a long ways from where we are", Rob replied. "We have to cut across the woods to save time though. And I can't say that we won't be encountering other bogeymen out there."  
  
"That's fine with me", Andrew said pulling out his sword. "I need a good laugh after today."  
  
Chapter 3: The Grateful Dead  
  
Rob had been right in his assumption that the Ghostbusters would be meeting some zombies and vampires in the woods of Dalton. They had not gone any more than a few feet inside the dark forests when it was Andrew who alerted the team to the familiar moaning of the undead.  
  
CJ and Salina quickly discovered the flaw in the proton packs against zombies, but made the most of it the best they could; Andrew (a mad glint in his eye and a smile on his lips) went right to work, cutting off various limps and appendages left and right (a flying hand from one zombie conked CJ in the face).  
  
Andrew apologizes to CJ, "Sorry, 'bub."  
  
Rob used CJ's proton pistol, but realized how limited the power was inside this mobile unit. Relying on his fists, he took the zombies into a real ballroom brawl. Brian was relying on his new modified proton pack and was blasting the zombies into kingdom come.  
  
"How far are we from the facility?" CJ asked, whacking one member of the undead upside its head with the butt of his neutrona wand.  
  
"Just a little further!" Rob said knocking the head off another. "If we can somehow get a path between us and the zombies we might make it!"  
  
"Hey, I think I have a plan", Andrew said shoving his sword through his enemy. Taking the time to rifle through his pockets, he pulled out a small, green, egg-shaped object.  
  
"You're going to use a grenade?" Salina asked raising her eyebrow. "What about us getting a distance so we won't get blown to smithereens?"  
  
"If you've got a better idea, I'd like to hear it." Salina said nothing else. "Great then", Andrew said and, before pulling the key, yelled:  
  
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!"  
  
Then he threw it. The four Ghostbusters and Rob ran as quickly as they could towards cover, thrown forward somewhat from the impact and force of the grenade. Hailing from the sky was dust, dirt, debris, and pieces from the zombies.  
  
"The army compound is only a couple of walks from here", Rob said adjusting his hearing aid.  
  
"Good", CJ said. "I, for one, am all funned out for today."  
  
. . .  
  
"Are you sure this is an army compound or a castle?" Salina asked Rob as they came upon the facility. The majority of the compound was fortified by a concrete gate that surrounded it. Even from where they were standing, the Ghostbusters could see the points of Gothic style towers rising into the sky.  
  
"Marvelous bit of architecture", CJ said. "It must have taken years to build something like this."  
  
"Actually, some this wasn't even here", Rob said scratching his head. "In fact, none of it was here."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, this compound looked like a natural compound, not some kind of wannabe castle."  
  
"Interesting", Andrew replied. "But how do we get in?"  
  
"Well, if this is the same complex, then there should be some kind of security card clearance somewhere here. Hold on, this will only take a minute." Rob began patting down the walls, trying to get a feel for the clearance operator.  
  
"This'll be quicker", Salina said. Pointing her pack at the front of the gates, a burst of protons blew open a large hole in there.  
  
"Haven't we had enough explosions for one day?" Andrew said jokingly slapping her on the back.  
  
"My God!" Brian said when the entered. The interior of the complex was dimly lit, except for a row of fire lamps placed accordingly along the walls. He went towards the right wall and began to admire it.  
  
"The runic scriptures haven't been used in ages", he said.  
  
"What do they mean?" CJ asked.  
  
"It's a dead language actually. The Wu. I haven't brushed up on that in my studies, but I believe that this letter here could signify the Spear of Destiny." Brian pointed to a shape that looked like "Y" upside down. "Whatever's going on here, this letter means that the Spear is being used for dark, demonic purposes."  
  
"Which also means that we have to end this", Salina said. No sooner had the words escaped her lips, she grabbed her head and began to scream. Dropping to the ground, she began to convulse.  
  
Before any of the Ghostbusters had a chance to help her, they too were struck with her mysterious affliction. Andrew tried to fight it, keeping himself steady by the hilt of his sword but he too dropped to the ground.  
  
CJ could feel his brain literally beginning to explode, but before he lost consciousness, he thought he heard someone laughing in his head.  
  
. . .  
  
"Psst, CJ! You awake?" Rob asked.  
  
CJ groaned and tried to rub his eyes, but found he couldn't. His glasses were gone, making his vision somewhat blurry. He discovered that his hands were bound and he was hanging by them, held close to what was supposed to be the ceiling of the Dalton military complex. All around him, he saw nothing but darkness; his sight was helped by the candles placed around the ceiling. Down below, he could just make out the shape of a circle. In front of it was a bright light, a vortex he thought.  
  
"I'll tell you when my head stops ringing", he said to Rob. Despite his blurred vision, CJ could see that the others were bound in much the same way he was. "Is everybody okay?"  
  
"Yeah," Andrew said shaking his head.  
  
"Me too", Salina replied.  
  
"Yeah, I think I'll be alright", Brian said. "You know, I was just thinking that maybe it was the effects of the Spear that transformed the compound into this cave-like setting."  
  
"You pick that up while on the can?" Salina asked.  
  
"No, I just had enough time between waking up and looking around to notice everything", Brian replied. "It seems as though our jailor has modeled the complex upon the Dark Age motif."  
  
"Well that's splendid", Salina said. "But more importantly, does anyone have an idea as to how we can get out of here?"  
  
"I think I might be able to get to my sword", Andrew said. "Whoever put us up here didn't think to take off our packs and weapons."  
  
"You're not the only one to think that was weird", Rob deadpanned.  
  
"Didn't think so. But if I can get to my sword and get us loose, will you guys be able to fight? I notice that there are several guards down there and I can't promise that they're human."  
  
"No offense Andrew", Rob said, "but I ain't even gonna dignify that one."  
  
Andrew grinned. "Good enough", he said and began swinging around to get his sheath off his sword.  
  
"You would do well to stop your futile plans. I know that it won't work."  
  
"Okay, CJ, I know about your big vocabulary, but don't try to discourage me."  
  
"I didn't say that", CJ said innocently. The others agreed as well.  
  
"Then who did?" Andrew asked. He had stopped swinging.  
  
The voice sighed. "And I thought you would be smart." The echo of a snap resounded all around the cave/complex and the Ghostbusters were slowly lowered to the ground. Upon reaching it, their bonds quickly disappeared. Their guards were, as Andrew said, not human at all; they were beasts, one of whom resembled a werewolf standing completely upright. The other was shorter than his comrade, but lurched menacingly around the team so close that they had to hold their breaths to keep from gagging, his body odor emitting a putrid smell.  
  
"Can I slay them now master?" the shorter of the two guards asked. He pointed a spear at CJ's midsection.  
  
"No", was the reply from the mysterious voice. "First, they must learn."  
  
"What do we have to learn?" Salina said. "That whoever's captured us is more of a damned coward for not showing himself."  
  
"You are wrong about that Ms. Duran", the voice said, prompting a shocked expression from Salina. "It won't do much good to seem surprised; I know every detail about you all. Every mistake you have ever made, every time you have felt angry or depressed. Funny, between the five of you, you're more insane yourselves than what you're thoughts are of me."  
  
Seemingly appearing in front of the team was a slender man dressed in similar military colors as the General back in New York. He wore very few medals and ribbons, but his nametag read THORSEN. He obviously had experience on his side, as he had an odd bald pattern that formed sideburns down his cheeks, reminding CJ of Wolverine. But the menace in the man's eyes coupled with the thin smile on his lips made him more dangerous than that X-Man.  
  
"Allow me a moment to introduce myself", he said walking towards the team, his hands behind his back. His accent was a hybrid of British and Scottish. Taking a moment to bow, he said, "I am Adrik Thorsen, one of the lead men on the Excelsior project, otherwise known as Project D.E.S.T.I.N.Y."  
  
"So you stole the Destiny Spear!" Brian said. Thorsen laughed.  
  
"Hardly. It took some strings to pull in order for the army to approve of such a project, lad. Hell, even my 'good' friend General Connors didn't want anything to do with such ghoulish properties. But the idea to lessen American casualties... appealed somewhat to him and the Secretary of War. All I had to do was promise to keep it quiet. The American public has to be on a 'need-to-know' basis, they told me."  
  
"But why? And how did you get the Spear in the first place?"  
  
"Questions, questions, and more questions!" Thorsen said laughing. He turned around from them to face his swirling vortex.  
  
"April, 1945: I suppose most of you wouldn't have paid enough attention in History to know that as the Allies were closing in on Berlin, Hitler committed suicide."  
  
"Of course", CJ said.  
  
"The Spear he had entrusted to a Baron sympathetic to the Nazi cause. After it was know that the Fuehrer was dead, this Baron tried to use the magical properties of the Spear to give the Nazis one last rally. Funny, his own manservant, a Japanese fellow, slew him and stole the Spear, his purpose to help the Japanese army in Asia. He didn't get far before he was cornered by a unit of American GI's led by a Sergeant Barry Cole, who took down the servant before he could use the powers of the spear."  
  
"But, I thought that the Spear was in the Hapsburg house in Poland", Brian said. "The way I read it, we found the Spear in one of Hitler's warehouses and returned it to the Hapsburgs."  
  
"Please, would the United States at that time entrust an artifact that had nearly spelled defeat for the world in the hands of some third-world country? I think not. The Spear that was given to the House of Hapsburgs was a clever fake from a later century. We kept the original Spear of Longinus. Sergeant Cole came back to the U.S. with it in a crate in October of 1945, just shortly after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The scientists who studied it then were fools; they had no idea of the power and magnitude such an artifact could possibly have. They were not schooled in the Age of Dark lore; they had no knowledge of the Clan of Wu. They were idiots."  
  
Knowing full well what was going to be said next...  
  
"WU WHO?" asked all four Ghostbusters and Rob. Thorsen, obviously miffed at the joke, continued.  
  
"The Spear was soon placed as another file to be forgotten in history and stored underneath the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., never to be brought up again."  
  
"Until you came along", Rob said, nearly spitting.  
  
"You are correct Mr. Statler. I, myself, am schooled in the Occult. I studied for twenty-five years in Europe to learn of the Wu Clan. Additionally, I learned theology, and from there learned of the Spear of Destiny."  
  
"So what's the deal with trying to have all that power to yourself?" Andrew asked.  
  
"It's not a matter of having power; it is a matter of what you can do with it. Hitler, Napoleon, Constantine, Frederick II. All of them had the Spear, yet they didn't know how to unleash its full potential. My prerogative, you ask? I want to change the world."  
  
"Look around you: death, violence, war. Ills we have to resort to brute force to eradicate."  
  
"And by changing people into creatures, you have done something better for them?" CJ asked sarcastically. He received a sharp poke in his stomach from his guard.  
  
"Yet you still miss the point. Dalton was just a starting off point; these creatures that you have been fighting all day are merely an extension of what mankind truly is inside."  
  
Thorsen produced from his pocket a small, dagger shaped object, no bigger than his palm. "That's the thing that's been causing this whole mess?" Andrew asked. "Why, it doesn't even have its shaft!"  
  
But Thorsen just smiled and held the spearhead horizontally in front of them. "Decca sig pious o carpe noctem driad! " Thorsen said, his hair beginning to swirl as a mysterious wind swept through the complex.  
  
"Look!" Brian shouted, pointing to the spearhead. A mysterious orange glow reshaped itself into a horizontal lien and began growing from the spearhead. It lasted a short time, but beheld in front of the Ghostbusters was the complete Spear of Longinus. It was a hasta spear, about as long as Thorsen was tall.  
  
"Impressive, I take it?" Thorsen asked, now holding the spear upright. "I wanted to show you the massive power of the Spear, at least before I killed you." He pointed the spearhead towards the swirling vortex and said a few unintelligible words that the others, save Brian, could not understand.  
  
"What you're seeing here is really an engine", said Thorsen, "a four dimensional object transposed into 3-D space. When I finish the final incantation, this engine will soon engulf the whole world, placing every man, woman, and child under my control. However..." He looked at the Ghostbusters and grinned.  
  
"My army wouldn't be complete without generals to lead, so I have a proposition for you: You can forget that you ever were heroes and become my allies. Sure there's a place for you all within my regime. There always is for those that swear their allegiance to me."  
  
"And if we refuse?" CJ asked. Thorsen simply pointed the Spear at the wolf- guard. A look of horror passed over the guard's face before a blinding light shot from the Spear hit the guard in the middle of his chest, disintegrating him.  
  
"Need any other questions?"  
  
"Yeah, GET BENT POOZER!" CJ said. With quickness and speed that surprised even him, he reached for his neutrona wand and fired directly at the short guard that had been harassing him. In seconds, the other Ghostbusters had their wands pointed at Thorsen. Rob, his pistol running low on juice, held his at Thorsen's head.  
  
"An interesting show", Thorsen said, apparently amused. "I must admit, that is why I left you armed. I knew that you wouldn't become my allies, my generals. And with any empire, there must be the blood of all those that oppose me." He now turned the Spear on the Ghostbusters and fired in the middle of the group. But instead of sending shockwaves that would have knocked the Ghostbusters off their feet, it immediately was absorbed by the ground. For a few moments, nothing happened.  
  
"What's the matter?" Andrew asked mockingly. "Your dingy run out of juice?"  
  
"No", Thorsen said calmly. At that moment, the ground began to shake underneath them. It was Salina who screamed first as a hand grabbed her ankle, bringing her towards the ground and pulling her down. It was Andrew who stopped it with a mighty swipe of his gleaning sword. More and More zombies began to pile from underneath the dirt, many of them wearing Army issue uniforms.  
  
"You see", Thorsen said, "History is wrought with the blood of those that rise against their emperors. Thankfully, with the powers of the Spear and the—Clan with me, I can make my enemies part of my army."  
  
The Ghostbusters went right to work trying to stop these undead soldiers, using their various methods to get the job done. But this time, the zombies proved more difficult than the ones that they had fought the last time around. As soon as one was cut down, be it by Andrew's blade or Brian's sonic boom proton pack, more would spring up.  
  
They were more violent than their predecessors, actually clawing and scratching at the Ghostbusters.  
  
"Are you enjoying your impending doom, heroes?" Thorsen asked bemusedly.  
  
"F*%k you!" Andrew shouted at the madman, as he sliced one zombie down the middle. "You have to call on your soldiers to take us down. Why, I bet you couldn't even take us in an even matchup! Heck, you couldn't even take me!"  
  
CJ looked at Andrew as if he were crazy. "Are you mental?" he asked. But Andrew grinned back at him.  
  
"Don't worry, trust me on this, you guys just keep fighting."  
  
"Is that so?" Thorsen said. Pointing the Spear, Andrew could feel himself being pulled forward by its power until he was literally level with the obviously taller Thorsen.  
  
"So, you think that you are of more power than I am?"  
  
"Dude", Andrew said calmly, "I KNOW I have more power than you do in my pinky."  
  
"Let's see about that." With that, Thorsen threw Andrew to the ground. Placing his Spear upon a small boulder, he began to unbutton his coat, revealing a heavily muscled frame that was offset by the stiff uniform.  
  
"You have the option of backing down now and letting me kill you quick and easy", Thorsen offered cracking knuckles. But, as CJ and the others saw, Andrew tossed his sword into one corner of the cave and removed his proton pack and various other tool he used. Taking off his cloak, he stood in a familiar position and said simply to Thorsen, "Bring it on...poozer." Thorsen charged towards Andrew and they both gripped each other. Thorsen had the upper hand, grabbing Andrew's head and placing him in a lock and began pounding the daylights out of him, before standing him up and kicking him in the gut.  
  
Dazed, Andrew stumbled around for a few moments, not expecting Thorsen's attack to be like that. His back turned, Thorsen placed Andrew in a jujitsu bear-hug, crushing Andrew's ribs. The Ghostbusters could see that he was in obvious pain, but tried to hold it in as he winced and scrunched up his face. Thorsen dropped Andrew to the ground and kicked him in the face.  
  
"What the hell is he doing?" Rob asked, breaking the jaw of one of the zombies before placing it in the Stone Cold Stunner.  
  
His eyes widening, CJ said:  
  
"He's buying us time." He pointed at the zombies and noticed that they were beginning to lose some of their power now that Thorsen was not controlling them with the Spear of Destiny. They were crumbling back into dust, but Thorsen was too busy to notice.  
  
"If those zombies are losing power because Thorsen is too busy to focus on them", CJ wondered, "then the same might just go for this insane engine of his."  
  
"I take it you have a plan?" Salina said kicking one zombie in its gonads.  
  
"Yeah", CJ said looking towards Thorsen's engine. "If we can just pour enough of our protons into the thing, and cross the streams, then maybe we can cause it to overload and destroy itself."  
  
"Cross the streams?" Salina asked surprised and shocked. "Have you lost your ever-lovin' mind? You remember what Professor Spengler said about crossing the streams. That whole 'total protonic reversal' thing ring a bell with you?"  
  
"Yeah", CJ said. "But what other option have we got?"  
  
"Will it work?" Rob asked. CJ shrugged.  
  
"I'm trying to think but nothing's happening."  
  
"Well, I've lived a full life", Brian said firing first into the vortex. He was followed by CJ and Salina. Rob checked to see how much power was left in his proton pistol and then fired at it as well, crossing his streams with Salina's.  
  
Realizing that his friends had caught on to his plan, Andrew smiled at Thorsen. As the older man raised his fist to land another slam at Andrew's face, Andrew grabbed his wrist.  
  
"Game over", he said and drove his fist into Thorsen's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, unaware of the attack coming. Andrew drove his knee into Thorsen's face, causing the madman to fall backwards, a look of shock in his eyes.  
  
"Wh-what is this sudden burst of fury from you?" Thorsen asked scrambling from the ground. "Or where you waiting until your friends caught on to your plan?"  
  
Andrew's face dropped. "You knew?" Tapping his skull, Thorsen grinned.  
  
"I knew it the moment before you challenged me." Picking up the Spear, unknown to the four Ghostbusters, he pointed at the engine and muttered a new incantation. A burst of sudden energy emanated from it, hitting the vortex directly, causing an explosion to burst from it, throwing the Ghostbusters backwards.  
  
"What happened?" Salina asked. Andrew helped her up.  
  
"Thorsen caught on to what we were doing", he said. Then he looked up at the engine. "And came up with a plan of his own."  
  
"Huh?" they all said in unison as they stared at Thorsen's engine. The creature that stepped out of the vortex was taller than the whole complex, standing about 100-feet high in the air. Its skin was tinged a grayish color, its eyes as black as night. Raising its fist high in the air, the Colossus brought it down hard upon the ground that shook the Ghostbusters off their feet.  
  
"Allow me to introduce my associate", Thorsen laughed. "In my initial explorations in the Spear's power, I came across him. He wasn't hard to subdue, but that was for me. Let's see how you young heroes fair."  
  
The Colossus let a roar escape its lungs as it grabbed Brian in its large palm.  
  
"BRIAN!" Salina shouted as she and CJ fired a proton stream at the beast. It had no effect as the hand encircled Brian. But the Colossus had picked Brian off the ground no more than a couple of feet before a blue flame burst in its hand. Screaming in pain, the creature tossed Brian back to earth.  
  
"You all right dude?" Rob asked going over to him.  
  
"Yeah", Brian replied. "I think I'll be, but we can't be out in the open." He pointed as the creature picked a piece of granite from the complex and threw it towards the ground at the Ghostbusters. They scattered in different directions, until meeting behind a boulder. Thorsen laughed at them, as he began reciting the final spell that would cause the vortex to encircle the globe.  
  
"Imagine us going out like this", Salina said. "Killed by a Colossus and a Spear."  
  
"So we're just going to sit here like ducks then?" Andrew asked shaking his head. "I always figured I'd die either in the ring or by the hands of a bloodsucker, but never with my head between my legs. I ain't going out like that."  
  
"Okay", CJ said. "We now know that this creature is impervious to protons but magic hurts it. How does one help the other?"  
  
Rob stroked his beard. "We can still send a proton attack at that engine", he said. "But with that thing blocking it, it's going to be tough."  
  
"Not if we can distract it", Andrew said joining in. "You saw how Thorsen let his guard down."  
  
"Yeah", CJ agreed, "but he was toying with us."  
  
"But, you know when he wasn't able to put his concentration into the Spear's power, and had something else to occupy his mind, everything was weaker."  
  
"So what are you suggesting?"  
  
"I'm saying one of us distracts the creature and Thorsen, and the rest does what needs to be done." There was a momentary silence as the Colossus threw another rock at the Ghostbusters boulder. They all exchanged glances at one another, until it was Salina who said:  
  
"I like this plan, I'm excited to be apart of it. Let's do this then!"  
  
Brian was the one to step out first. He took off his proton pack and handed it to Rob ("You'll need it" he said). Concentrating, he was able to convert his energy into his hands, as they flared a dark blue. Winding up like a baseball pitcher, he sent one energy beam sailing at the Colossus. It took a step back, then bent down to try and swat at Brian, missing him by inches. Not missing his chance, Brian threw another beam at the creature's face, blinding it for that one second. It backed away from the vortex as it held its face.  
  
"Cheap magic tricks from a sub-par sorcerer", Thorsen said as he pointed the Spear at Brian. But as he was doing so, he felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned around, only to be met by one of Andrew's fists that sent him sprawling towards the ground. The Spear fell out of his hands, landing at Andrew's feet. With one step, Andrew snapped the Spear's shaft in half.  
  
"All right bitch", he said holding both fists in front of him, "let's finish this!"  
  
Thorsen wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth as he got up. "As you wish", he said and dove at Andrew.  
  
"It looks like Andrew's plan is working", CJ said. "He and Brian have their enemies distracted." He looked at Rob and Salina. Charging his pack, he said:  
  
"Let's do this job and go home."  
  
The trio stepped from behind the boulder and walked towards the vortex as it swirled in front of them, illuminating their tired faces. CJ was the one who fired the first stream, followed by Salina and Rob, who crossed theirs with his.  
  
Brian took a quick minute to look over at his friends, to make sure that things were going over all right on their end. Making a giant blue fist, he swung it at the Colossus's face, knocking it down.  
  
At that moment, as villains fell, CJ, Salina, and Rob squinted their eyes as the vortex grew brighter.  
  
"TAKE COVER!" CJ shouted as the trio shut down their packs and ran behind the boulder. Thorsen's engine exploded with tremendous fury and force that shook the whole complex, causing several pieces of granite to fall from the ceiling.  
  
"NO! THE ENGINE!" Thorsen said looking at the void where his invention had been. The Colossus, a being derived from the energy inside the vortex, disappeared along with it.  
  
"That's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you", Andrew said swinging at Thorsen. But that would be the last hit Andrew would land.  
  
"ENOUGH!" Opening his hand, a burst of energy hit Andrew, causing him to fly backwards towards a wall. Suddenly, his entire body became engulfed in a mystical energy field as he picked up the Spear of Destiny and reformed it's shaft.  
  
Brian, trying to summon a spell, was also hit with a magic beam that put him out of action. Thorsen then turned his attention towards the three remaining Ghostbusters. Rob, CJ, and Salina aimed their neutrona wands at the mad Thorsen, whose eyes glistened with the magic of the Spear as he laughed.  
  
"You had your chance to join me", Thorsen said. "You could have been legends in the new world order. But you had to choose the righteous path of being heroes. As I speak, I'm beginning the spell to recreate my device." Taking one step towards the Ghostbusters, they fired their packs full blast at Thorsen. They did not stop him.  
  
"Shit!" Rob said. "That Spear must have some kind of grid around him."  
  
"There is one chance we have to stop this guy", Salina said. "Like CJ's idea of crossing the streams, we might have to set the packs on simultaneous overload."  
  
"Great", CJ said. "Not only will that take him out, but also this whole building and us with it."  
  
"Not necessarily. What if we shut the overload down in time for the extra energy buildup to blow through the wands and at Thorsen?" CJ and Rob looked at each other and said nothing.  
  
"Alright, let's do what needs to be done." Muttering the location of the button for Rob, CJ and Salina pressed theirs. Their neutrona wands shut off for as they cackled and spit small streams.  
  
"Giving up?" Thorsen asked coming closer to the Ghostbusters. The Spear began to accumulate energy  
  
"Okay, we got five seconds until overload", Salina said looking at her watch. She still had her wand pointed at Thorsen.  
  
"Four seconds. Three...two...NOW!"  
  
Instead of the customary yellow and blue proton streams that the packs usually emitted, the color red burst from them, hitting Thorsen directly.  
  
The streams had broken the Spear's grid and now mobilized Thorsen, but Thorsen did not give up; pointing the Spear at the three Ghostbusters, he fired a beam that met with the proton packs.  
  
"FEEL MY HATE!" Thorsen shouted as sweat poured from his face. "FEEL MY FURY!"  
  
CJ, unhooking the ghost trap from his belt, threw it at Thorsen's feet. Without stopping, he slammed on the pedal with his fist. A bright energy field surrounded Thorsen as he felt his power being drained from him. CJ let go of the pedal as Thorsen fell, the Spear clattering at his side, depowered.  
  
Looking at him, Rob asked, "How'd you know that would work?"  
  
Shrugging, CJ said, "I didn't. That was a gambled."  
  
The three Ghostbusters walked over towards Thorsen as he breathed in heavily.  
  
"No", he said. "It—it can't end like this." His hand reached weakly towards the Spear, but Salina kicked it away.  
  
"As a duly designated representative of the city, state, and county of New York, I place you under arrest."  
  
But Thorsen smiled weakly and said:  
  
"He warned me that I would fail. I didn't believe him and now I will pay for it."  
  
"Who warned you?" Rob asked. "You were working for someone else?"  
  
"That's not going to be a worry for you lot...for now." Thorsen muttered a spell underneath his breath. The Ghostbusters watched astonished as Thorsen began to disapparate before their eyes, until he disappeared completely, his high insane laugh filling the air.  
  
They stood there for a few moments, staring at the spot where Thorsen had been. It was CJ who broke the silence as he was picking up the Spear.  
  
"So, do you suppose that this mission can be classified as a success?"  
  
"I hope so", Salina said. "This has been one of those days when everything that can go wrong has gone all to hell." She went over to Andrew to see if he was alright; as she put a finger towards the pulse in his neck, Andrew grabbed her wrist.  
  
"Sorry", he said. "Reflex."  
  
Brian shook his head as he got up from the ground. "Did you guys do it?" he asked.  
  
"I dunno", CJ said. "Let's see how the town looks."  
  
Walking outside of the complex and out of Dalton's forest, the Ghostbusters saw several citizens walking around in the streets, many of whom reverting back to their human forms. Some were actually dancing about in the street, overjoyed that their nightmare had ended.  
  
"I'd call that a big yes", Rob said, stifling back a tear of joy himself.  
  
"So what happened to ol' Asshead", Andrew asked, meaning Thorsen. CJ, Rob, and Salina all exchanged glances at each other, not answering him.  
  
EPILOGUE: On the Road Again  
  
"So I take it that your excursion to Dalton went accordingly?" Egon asked, calling from the Firehouse in New York. He was talking to CJ, who had just boarded the airplane that the town had provided them. Outside, Dalton had extended their thanks to the Ghostbusters with a banner that read THANK YOU GHOSTBUSTERS! in bright red letters.  
  
"Better than we could have expected", CJ said. He was wearing his flightsuit unzipped, exposing a Kid Flash shirt underneath. A bandage was wrapped around his head. "We were all pretty good at it. Our various skills came in handy in stopping these monsters and we had one heckuva adventure doing it!"  
  
"You have to remember Cedric that being a Ghostbuster is more than just having an adventure. It takes responsibility and conviction to do the job."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean", CJ said as he soothed his throbbing skull. "But it is cool having everybody know who you are. Heck, there's even some CNN guys over here interviewing the people."  
  
"Has anyone revealed the exact reason for the...problem?"  
  
"Not entirely, mostly everyone's said it had something to do with an insane warlock coming here and turning them into monsters. Even Rob's been avoiding the paparazzi, and he knew more about this than any of us."  
  
"The mechanic?" Egon asked.  
  
"Yeah", CJ replied. "Without him, we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did. That's why we invited him back with us. He didn't want to stay in Dalton, and had no connections anymore with the army."  
  
"Fascinating", Egon said.  
  
"Which leads me to my next question: since we're kind of like Ghostbusters now, does that mean we can be a franchise of our own?"  
  
Egon thought for a second. "Well, we'll see when you get back to New York. There are a couple of quid pro quos that we have to discuss before anything is definite."  
  
"Cool sir!" CJ said, unable to hold back his excitement. "Don't worry about funds: Dalton was pretty generous in their appreciation for our services rendered, and we got that bonus coming from the Army."  
  
"Anyway, take care Doctor Spengler. We'll see you when we land in JFK Airport."  
  
"Bye CJ", Egon said and hung up the phone. CJ began to relax in his seat, but took a moment to look at his fellow teammates: Salina was already pouring into her book ("The Necronomicon?" CJ thought to himself); Rob was sitting back sipping on a bottle of Busch that he had bought at the store before boarding the plane; and Andrew sat in one corner of the plane in a meditative trance it seemed.  
  
Brian came up and took a seat next to CJ.  
  
"So what'd our great leader want to say?" he asked opening a can of soda.  
  
"Mostly he wanted to know if we all were all right", CJ replied. "But, how does the idea of being in a Ghostbusters franchise grab you?"  
  
"Appeals to me fine", Brian said. "I can't think of any other team that needs a magician on their squad."  
  
CJ laughed. "Alright then."  
  
"But, if we do become a team, what would our name be?"  
  
It was then that CJ looked over at the Dalton Journal; the paper had just printed a story of the previous day's adventure, and the headline read: "GHOSTBUSTERS GAIN AMAZING VICTORY OVER DALTON'S DOOM!" Looking back at Brian, CJ said:  
  
"How does 'Ghostbusters Doom Patrol' sound?"  
  
Brian shrugged. "It's got possibilities..."  
  
. . .  
  
"You failed." Thorsen screamed in pain as a shockwave entered his body. Falling to the ground, he was held up by two hooded shapes. "I warned you of the consequences if you failed me Adrik."  
  
"Master, I did not fail specifically", Thorsen sputtered, blood falling to the darkness that surrounded him. "I had not foreseen the idea that those Ghostbusters would defeat me."  
  
"And so that was you blunder Adrik. Even with the Spear of Destiny at your disposal, you still underestimated your opponents."  
  
Thorsen dropped to his knees and began begging for mercy. "It won't happen again, master. Please, send me back and I will kill them all."  
  
"How do I know that you will not fail me again?"  
  
"It is as you said", Thorsen said getting up. His voice showed that he was regaining some of his confidence. "I underestimated them, especially that vampire hunter Andrew Williams and that magician Brian Roig. I will annihilate them personally and bring their still beating hearts to his lordship."  
  
"Very well. But remember this: I appointed you to lead my army of darkness, not to cause them to stumble. You fail me again, Adrik, and it will be you I kill."  
  
"As you wish, my lord." And with that, Thorsen disappeared. After he was gone, one of the hooded shapes spoke up.  
  
"So you are just going to let him go?"  
  
Lord Koth, the Great Dog of War stepped out from the shadows and looked at his minion. "Thorsen will fail me again; he will let the Spear fall from his hands. But when he does, I will be ready. And when darkness falls, I will annihilate those that pose a threat to me." 


End file.
